INFORMS, the top international association for operations research, analytics and AI professionals, elected Wedad Elmaghraby, Dean's Chair of Operations Management and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, as president-elect.
Elmaghraby will assume the role of president-elect on Jan. 1, 2026, transitioning to president in January 2027, and then past-president in January 2028. She was elected by the entire INFORMS membership and is entrusted with the governance, strategic direction and public face of the organization.
“I am incredibly honored to be elected by my fellow INFORMS members for this role,” said Elmaghraby. “My colleagues are making extraordinary advances in AI and intelligent technologies that are saving lives, helping organizations and governments, and solving the world’s biggest problems around the globe. I am excited and energized to help propel this work forward.”
She will work closely with the INFORMS board of directors and staff to strengthen ties between academia, industry and government and encourage more research in operations research, analytics and AI.
“As academia continues to evolve, Wedad will play a transformative role in shaping the future of academia-industry partnerships and advancing impactful research. With creativity, bold vision, and passion, she will guide INFORMS toward an exciting and dynamic future,” said Prabhudev C. Konana, dean of the Smith School of Business.
Konana pointed to Elmaghraby’s success in building bridges between industry and academia to take on big challenges in analytics and AI — from the AI for Food Insecurity Challenge to the Deloitte Analytics Hackathon, to new research initiatives in our school. She also has a new ebook on sustainability in the fashion supply chain, which shows her ability to connect innovation with real-world impact.
Elmaghraby has previously served as the president of the INFORMS Manufacturing and Service Operations Management (MSOM) society, the Behavioral Operations Section. She currently serves as a department editor at MSOM and as an Amazon Scholar. In 2021, she was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by MSOM. She has also served as the director of the Deloitte Initiative on Artificial Intelligence and Learning and co-director of the Smith Analytics Consortium.
Her research interests are at the interface of operations management, economics and behavioral decision-making. Her current research includes market design to promote sustainable business paradigms in operations, online auctions in business-to-business secondary markets, and behavioral factors in consumer decision making and business-to-business contract design.
Prior to joining the Smith School, she was on the faculty of the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and the NYU Stern School of Business in the Operations Management group.
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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.